Track worker who died was “unaware of his position”

Accident investigators have made safety recommendations following the death of a track worker on February 9 last year.

Tyler Byrne (30), from Aldershot, was struck by a train travelling at 76mph near Surbiton station in south-west London. He was Controller of Site Safety at the time, and was one of four track workers carrying out inspections.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch concluded he was “unaware of his position, probably because he had become distracted, either due to teaching an assistant or by undertaking an actual inspection”.

The train driver sounded the warning horn twice during the train’s approach.

RAIB Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents Andrew Hall said: “After a period of almost five years with no fatalities involving moving trains, track maintenance staff have died in accidents each year from 2018 to 2021.

“The patrol was being undertaken with protection provided by unassisted lookouts. While Network Rail has made great strides in reducing the amount of track maintenance work undertaken when trains are running… I urge everyone involved to look closely at what happened here, and learn from it.”

RAIB has made recommendations to Network Rail relating to work groups on or near the line being within designated safe limits when lines remain open. It has also made a recommendation to the Rail Delivery Group to improve the judgement of train drivers on whether track workers are in a dangerous position.